Marion A. Hersh

Assistive Technology for Visually Impaired and Blind People

Equal accessibility to public places and services is now required by law in many countries. In the case of the vision-impaired, it is often the use of specialised technology which can provide them with a fuller enjoyment of all the facilities of society from large scale meetings and public entertainments to the more personal level of reading a book or making music. In this volume the engineering and design principles and techniques used in assistive technology for blind and vision-impaired people are explained. Features: instruction in the physiology of the human visual system and methods of measuring visual ability; explanation of many devices designed for every-day living in terms of generic electrical engineering principles; sections of practical projects and investigations which will give the reader ideas for student work and for self teaching; contributions by authors of international repute from divers fields which co-operate under the banner of assistive technology, among them: artificial vision systems; psychology, haptics, electrical engineering, design and visual physiology. Assistive Technology for Vision-impaired and Blind Peopleis an an effective means of maintaining the currency of knowledge for engineers and health workers working to provide devices and/or services for people with sight loss and an excellent source of reference for students working in assistive technology and rehabilitation.

Sustainable decision making: the role of decision support systems

Sustainable decision making stands for decision making which contributes to the transition to a sustainable society. It raises a number of challenging problems for which existing decision support systems (DSS) may not be equipped. The role of DSS in sustainable decision making is considered. The different models of decision making and their appropriateness in sustainable decision making are discussed. Examples from the areas of water resources and energy planning and management are presented to illustrate some of the issues in sustainable decision making and the role of DSS. Conclusions include a suggested research program for further development of models of decision making and the development of DSS for use in sustainable decision making.

The changing position of women in engineering worldwide

The preliminary results from a research project on the changing position of women engineers worldwide are presented and discussed. These results include data on women engineers in a number of different countries for the period 1960-1997. They were obtained from a survey of 130 engineering institutions in 55 different countries. As an introduction to the presentation of these results, some of the problems facing women engineers in industry and education are considered. The data are discussed in detail; a number of hypotheses to explain the data are proposed, and further investigations and additional data requirements to allow these hypotheses to be verified or disproved are identified. These hypotheses include increases in the percentage of women engineers resulting from the effects of changes in the political system, convergence of the images of women and engineers, and generally good conditions for women and their involvement in public life.

Whistleblowers — heroes or traitors?: Individual and collective responsibility for ethical behaviour

This paper reviews the literature on whistleblowing in the context of the ethical issues and conflicts of loyalties it raises. Factors which effect the likelihood of whistleblowing, such as individual and organisational characteristics and the severity of the incident, are discussed. Organisational responses, including retaliation, and the effectiveness of whistleblowing are considered, as well as the state of legal protection in the US and UK. The particular issues raised by whistleblowing in science and research are considered and the similarities and differences in the treatment of whistleblowers in the former Soviet Union and the US examined.

Assistive Technology for the Hearing Impaired, Deaf and Deafblind

Affirmative legislative action in many countries now requires that public spaces and services be made accessible to disabled people. Although this is often interpreted as access for people with mobility impairments, such legislation also covers those who are hearing or vision impaired. In these cases, it is often the provision of advanced technological devices and aids which enables people with sensory impairments to enjoy the theatre, cinema or a public meeting to the full. Assistive Technology for the Hearing-impaired, Deaf and Deafblind shows the student of rehabilitation technology how this growing technical provision can be used to support those with varying reductions in auditory ability and the deafblind in modern society. Features: instruction in the physiology of the ear together with methods of measurement of hearing levels and loss; the principles of electrical engineering used in assistive technology for the hearing impaired; description and demonstration of electrical engineering used in hearing aids and other communications enhancement technologies; explanation of many devices designed for every-day living in terms of generic electrical engineering; sections of practical projects and investigations which will give the reader ideas for student work and for self teaching. The contributors are internationally recognised experts from the fields of audiology, electrical engineering, signal processing, telephony and assistive technology. Their combined expertise makes Assistive Technology for the Hearing-impaired, Deaf and Deafblind an excellent text for advanced students in assistive and rehabilitation technology and to professional engineers and medics working in assistive technology who wish to maintain an up-to-date knowledge of current engineering advances.

Deafblind People, Communication, Independence, and Isolation

This paper discusses issues related to communication, independence, and isolation for an understudied group of deaf people who also have visual impairments. The discussion is based on the experiences of 28 deafblind people in 6 different countries, obtained from interviews that were carried out as part of a larger research project on travel issues. However, the similarities in experiences between countries were stronger than the differences. In particular, barriers to communication and inadequate support, with resulting problems of isolation and depression, were found in all the countries. Equally, deafblind people in all the countries were interested in being involved in and contributing to society and supporting other people, particularly through organizations of blind and deafblind people. This runs counter to the tendency to present deafblind and other disabled people purely as recipients of support rather than also as active participants in society. However, there were some differences in the support available in the different countries.

Evaluation framework for ICT-based learning technologies for disabled people

Abstract This paper presents the first systematic approach to evaluation of inclusive ICT-based learning technologies and ICT-based learning technologies for disabled people. The first systematic approach to classification of these technologies is presented in a companion paper. The aims of the evaluation approach can be summarised as follows. 1. Evaluating various features of existing technologies from the perspectives of disabled learners and other stakeholders, comparing technologies and identifying gaps in technology provision. 2. Evaluating the impact of technology use on user outcomes, including barriers to learning, self-confidence, motivation, increasing participation in learning activities and achievement of desired learning outcomes. The evaluation framework comprises three main components: 1. Aims which specify the purpose(s) of the evaluation or what it is intended to achieve. 2. Principles which provide a framework and context in which the evaluation should be carried out and, in particular, specify the constraints, rules and factors to be taken into account. 3. Methodologies which specify the approaches used to carry out the evaluation taking account of the principles in order to achieve the aims. Development of the evaluation framework took place as part of a network project and involved a multi-stage process, including cycles of discussion, comment and validation using ICT based learning technologies used in the 16 partner countries. The resulting framework has several important applications in terms of establishing for the first time a clear evaluation framework which can be used to discuss and evaluate existing ICT-based learning technologies for disabled people, identify gaps in provision or the need for modifications and support the design and development process for new technologies.

Investigating Road Safety Issues and Deaf People in the United Kingdom: An Empirical Study and Recommendations for Good Practice

Very little research has been carried out in the United Kingdom or other countries on the views and experiences of deaf people on road safety and other aspects of travel. Historically, there has been little specific attention to either the issue of road safety for deaf people or more general travel issues affecting deaf people. Deaf-specific support, guidance, or advice on road safety from the police or other agencies has been sparse. This has led to a situation where support for deaf pedestrians, drivers, and other deaf road users has been developed on an ad-hoc basis, and available measures have not been uniformly adopted across the United Kingdom. Furthermore, although the United Kingdom police force has aimed to provide some support to deaf and hard of hearing people, this has mainly concentrated on communications support in the form of note-taking, interpreters, and video-based information. This article aims to fill the gap in knowledge of road safety issues for deaf and hard of hearing people by reporting empirical research carried out with deaf people in the United Kingdom and making recommendations to improve their road safety.

A study of advanced control systems in the work place

This paper presents and discusses the results of a pilot survey on the use of control techniques in industry. The survey was motivated by an awareness of the different approaches of academia and industry to the development and exploitation of control theory and technology. A presentation of a control technology classification is given. This is followed by a discussion of the survey construction. The results of the survey, which was run in central Scotland, are presented.

A robotic guide for blind people. Part 1. A multi-national survey of the attitudes, requirements and preferences of potential end-users

This paper reports the results of a multi-national survey in several different countries on the attitudes, requirements and preferences of blind and visually impaired people for a robotic guide. The survey is introduced by a brief overview of existing work on robotic travel aids and other mobile robotic devices. The questionnaire comprises three sections on personal information about respondents, existing use of mobility and navigation devices and the functions and other features of a robotic guide. The survey found that respondents were very interested in the robotic guide having a number of different functions and being useful in a wide range of circumstances. They considered the robots appearance to be very important but did not like any of the proposed designs. From their comments, respondents wanted the robot to be discreet and inconspicuous, small, light weight and portable, easy to use, robust to damage, require minimal maintenance, have a long life and a long battery life.